ONE second to hit 30, and 2.7 to 60. 10.8 quarter mile is within hitting range of the Veyron (which usually does mid 10s). Those acceleration figures are ridiculous for a production car. The AWD and PDK must work really well together.

Ferrari : F458 Italia, stunningly beautiful and a ridiculously good all around performer, all for a lot less than a Lexus LF-A. Sounds spectacular as well.

Lambo : New car focusing on super lightweight design, looks intense, performance rumored to be GODLY compared to current Lambos.

Porsche : New 911 Turbo S : Just makes all of the other Porsches look weak. Even the Carrera GT that recently retailed for $500k+ has nothing on this performance. 2.7 seconds to 60?

Is it just me or have the exotics / premier sports cars just gone bananas in the past 12 months or so. For a long time it seemed like ~3.6-4.0 second 0-60 was top-tier acceleration, along with high 11s/low 12s 1/4 times. Suddenly there's been a quantum shift forward.

Oh, and lol at R8. The upgraded 5.2L variant suffers pure annihilation at the hands of Porsche.

Is this payback to the world for every car mag singing songs about R8 and GT-R?

I really don't get the magazine benchmarks or magazine benchmark racing for that matter. A Yamaha R1 will do the 1/4 mile in around 10 seconds flat at over 140mph...but I've never ridden one. Might as well quote nurburgring lap times for all that's worth.

I really don't get the magazine benchmarks or magazine benchmark racing for that matter. A Yamaha R1 will do the 1/4 mile in around 10 seconds flat at over 140mph...but I've never ridden one. Might as well quote nurburgring lap times for all that's worth.

I really don't get the magazine benchmarks or magazine benchmark racing for that matter. A Yamaha R1 will do the 1/4 mile in around 10 seconds flat at over 140mph...but I've never ridden one. Might as well quote nurburgring lap times for all that's worth.

My father purchased this 'used' (500 miles) from a player on the AZ Diamondbacks a few years ago. Its speed is frightening until you get acquainted with it. As fast as it is, its agility impresses me even more. It is a dream to drive. He's indicated that the S model is his retirement prize - we'll see if mom permits that!

If I had the money to do that kind of shopping...and just speaking in terms of personal desirability...I would consider them in this order:

Aston Martin V12 Vantage: Ultimate in understated luxury and power. I could easily see it as an everyday driver.

Ferrari 458: Ultimate track car but don't think I could ever use one as a daily driver. Might as well wait for the "Scuderia" version, honed for track days. People who drive these things downtown are just posers.

Jeebus - off the top of my head I can't think of any car sold in the US, other than the Veyron, that is that quick. No road-legal Ferrari or Lambo has ever rivaled that 0-60 time, and the new MP4-12C is a hair slower as well. The 911 is also obviously much more reliable than those cars, and can actually be used every day. Amazing. I think I'd probably still rather have a Singer 911, though . . .

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The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity. The Second Coming, William Butler Yeats

I really don't get the magazine benchmarks or magazine benchmark racing for that matter. A Yamaha R1 will do the 1/4 mile in around 10 seconds flat at over 140mph...but I've never ridden one. Might as well quote nurburgring lap times for all that's worth.

How about a curve?

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no offense, but does he have some sort of mental dissability? -nick1985

Brainwashed, mentally unstable, and stupid Intel user, screwed by Intel and located directly under a chemtrail.

I really don't get the magazine benchmarks or magazine benchmark racing for that matter. A Yamaha R1 will do the 1/4 mile in around 10 seconds flat at over 140mph...but I've never ridden one. Might as well quote nurburgring lap times for all that's worth.

I don't get what you're not getting? Do you want them to just tell you how fast stuff is by the seat of the pants? Its just another metric by which to compare vehicles. Hell, I doubt most people would be able to tell the difference between a 10 second quarter mile and a 12 second one, both would be fast.

If you don't want that info, then just read the actual article.

The new Turbo though, that is insane performance. That's legitimate hypercar performance, and in one of the most drivable real performance cars. With the extra money you could make it even better.

I'm not the biggest Porsche fan, but this is very impressive. Its pretty cool that you can see the results of competition even in the supercar market.

WOW how does it do it with that kind of power to weight? I mean if it's AWD, that should only help to 0-60 about, and the much more powerful RWD cars should whip it to the quarter mile.

The transmission. Also, they aren't that much more powerful, only being about 50hp more. Considering only the 458 Italia weighs less than it, its not too surprising. Without the Porsche, the Ferrari would actually have been quite impressive on its own. I don't think its any surprise that those two cars are at the top, they're both lightweight and loaded with tech. They also probably have the best performance transmissions in road cars, aside from possibly the Veyron. Granted, they'll get looked down on because they aren't regular manuals, but that's what its going to take to make that next step.